


kaysh meg miit'gaana, oyacyi

by Chaosreigning, roseamariee



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Roleplay Logs, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:53:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22176601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaosreigning/pseuds/Chaosreigning, https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseamariee/pseuds/roseamariee
Summary: Edited and posted here for more ease of reading, these are the adventures of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Commander Cody, and a number of the 212th and 501st - starting with a harrowing crash in enemy territory!
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi
Comments: 8
Kudos: 60





	kaysh meg miit'gaana, oyacyi

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Just so everyone is aware going in: **This is a RP log.** We originally wrote - and are writing - all of this as part of an ongoing thread on tumblr. As such, it may read a bit oddly in places - we've done our best to smooth things out and make it more readable, but it's not perfect and the POV does still jump around quite a bit. Please keep this information in mind as you read on, and we hope you enjoy!
> 
> And to all our followers on tumblr that requested we post this here, we see you! Hi!

In the skies above the planet Accora’s capital city of  _ Siph _ , a barrage of relentless Separatist starship missiles and laser bolts slowly began knocking the Republic’s gunships and transport cruisers out of the air, sending them careening in smoking, fiery heaps toward the wet, rocky cliffs on the outer forests below. A battle was waging far above their heads, explosions erupting against the silhouette of the planet’s setting sun, surreal and chaotic. The last thing Sunny remembered before his vision blackened was a mass of frantically blurred limbs, his brothers’ golden painted plastoid armor harsh against the threatening red glare of the emergency lights, and the rough, battle-worn shout of the 212th’s Commander telling them all to brace for impact. 

Then there was nothing but silence.

Whatever time separated their gunship’s crash into the mossy hills far outside of the city to the slow coming into consciousness, the sky was no longer a muted combination of orange and pink, but rather a thick, endless darkness illuminated only by distant combat. Sunny’s head felt heavy under the weight of a possible concussion, realizing not long afterward that there was a physical manifestation to this weight- he was pinned down on his stomach between two large tree trunks, a sheet of metal adorning his battalion’s colors safely propped on top of the logs to keep from crushing him.

His helmet was cracked, the HUD display sparking at irregular intervals inches from his eyes, bleary and blinking. If he had use of his hands, he might have tried to remove it from his head, but in his haze was beginning to understand that there was not much room to maneuver at all. Everything sounded like it was underwater, like he was  _ suffocating _ as a panic began to set in, but he was not the only person pinned beneath the debris of their gunship. Ahead of him, he saw someone move and strained his eyes, his voice wavering when he finally managed to croak, “General Kenobi?”

“I’m here, Sunny,” Obi-Wan answered, keeping his tone as reassuring as possible even as he grimaced to himself and shoved a bit harder at the plate on top of them. It wasn’t so much that everything  _ hurt _ \- though everything did, in fact, hurt immensely - it was that everything insisted on  _ spinning _ . It was impossible to Push the wreckage off of himself and Sunny like this; even if he managed to direct the Force, he couldn’t risk just throwing the heavy plating without knowing what had happened to the rest of his men. If there was even the slightest chance that he might hit someone… “Are you doing alright over there?”

The metal slipped, a sharp edge slicing a gash through his gloves. If it had caught the skin beneath as well, he couldn’t tell: his hands had already been damp with sweat, and blood felt no different. It had stung, yes, but no more than anything else at the moment, so it was even odds either way.

He grunted, shoving again, and managed to make enough space to inch himself far enough out from under the debris to be able to prop himself up on his elbows. Once the nausea died away and the world settled back to a more leisurely sort of spin, he took better stock of their surroundings. Debris. Debris. Fire. Large skid mark across the ground, more fire.

… And there, some distance away, the main body of what had once been their laartie and several familiar beings. Thank the Force. He sighed in relief, and his ribs stabbed him in retaliation. His shield had worked well enough, then, even if he and Sunny had apparently been the first ones thrown when the transport had hit the ground.

“Hold on, I’m going to yell for assistance,” Obi-Wan warned, in case Sunny’s head hurt as much as his own. He gave the medic a moment to brace himself, then raised his voice to call out, “Commander!”

The looming threat of being crushed underneath the metal plating above them seemed less immediate knowing that the General was nearby. Even if the panic had still risen in his throat, he didn’t voice it, but rather attempted to quiet his mind and  _ relax _ , something he had frequently been told not just from Obi-Wan himself but familiar presences like Cad, his mentor, whenever the 212th’s CMO could sense Sunny’s distress.

“I’m alive.” His voice was quiet, stricken, but it seemed to reverberate in the confined space he was trapped underneath. His helmet crackled again, a web of electric blue light piercing his vision and momentarily blinding him until his eyes came back into focus. Sunny yanked one of his arms to free himself of it, but in moving he caused a log to roll slightly and the weight of the metal to bear down harder on top of him. Now his breathing came in short little gasps, unable to let his lungs expand fully. It was becoming increasingly more difficult to breathe. 

Unable to really brace himself, Sunny merely grit his teeth and waited, his eyes pinched shut underneath his broken visor. Somewhere in the distance, however, buckets rose and upright troopers began searching for the source of Obi-Wan’s voice with a renewed sense of urgency. Apparently they had been looking for him among the wreckage for some time now. 

“Commander,” one of their brothers yelled when they spotted him, “ _ Commander _ , I’ve found him! The General, he’s here!”

Commander Cody was much swifter than the crew meant to free Obi-Wan from the debris, so suddenly quick on his own feet after their crash landing that one might think he hadn’t been among them when they fell. He bounded over an overturned coupling and fell to one knee in front of Obi-Wan, the light from his helmet jerking about as he visibly checked the Jedi for superficial damage.

“General. We’ve been looking for you, Sir.” His head snapped back, standing again to route the troops his way. “Lieutenant, I need a jack here stat! Get this off him immediately. Sergeant, keep scanning for survivors. We need to find Sunny, we have wounded. Double time.”

Obi-Wan gestured towards the medic - his senses weren’t so rattled that he couldn’t sense the man, even if he wasn’t entirely visible. Sunny’s emotions alone were a rather glaring beacon in the Force, even before they’d spiked in panic a moment ago. Obi-Wan was  _ not  _ the priority here.

“Sunny is there,” he directed the other troopers, the command in his tone clear even before he gave the order. The remaining men instantly began moving where he’d pointed them. “Help him first; I can wait.”

Hopefully, the lieutenant would return with the jack soon, though. Obi-Wan managed a small, reassuring smile for his commander as he looked up. It was a bit crooked, Obi-Wan’s jaw was tight, and he was only 80% sure that he was looking at the correct Cody, but it was dark enough that Obi-Wan was fairly sure those details would go unnoticed.

Probably.

“I don’t suppose you would be willing to help me lift this up again for a moment so I can wait in a slightly more comfortable position, Cody? I think one of my feet is already falling asleep, with the angle it’s at. … Be careful, it’s very heavy, and the edges are really sharp in some places.”

On Obi-Wan’s instruction, the men congregated around the slab of metal pinning Sunny to the ground, though their boots occasionally slipped on the mossy, wet earth below them in their haste. Four of them attempted to haul it up with combined effort, but the trek was difficult and they had to stop when they heard Sunny yell as the logs pushed farther apart and the weight pinned him harder to the ground.

“Wait for the  _ jack _ ,” Sergeant Boil piped up, stepping forward and waving them away. Another trooper that had been clearing the wreckage of the main cabin came bounding over with the equipment in his hands just in time. If they were careful, they could use it to pry the metal off the medic and drag him out the supported end.

Cody, meanwhile, had rounded his first position in front of Obi-Wan in favor of coming up beside him, skimming the jagged edges of the metal sheet so he could find a good handhold to prop it up as best as he could. If his gloves didn’t protect his hands in the end, it was a small price to pay for Obi-Wan’s relief. “I don’t know how you manage to find yourself in these positions, General. Most of us bounced off an invisible wall, it seemed.” His helmet tipped up, shoving his boots into the dirt while he pulled upward hard, grunting from the physical strain.

“We’ve got him!” Oddball shouted from nearby, tugging hard on Sunny’s arms until the medic had cleared the debris completely. They released the jack and the plating fell heavily back onto the ground.

“Not a very solid wall,” Obi-Wan grunted, pushing at the plate as Cody pulled and wriggling himself painfully into a slightly  _ less _ painful position, “if Sunny’s predicament is any indication.  _ Oof.  _ Thank you, Commander; that will do until the jack is free.”

He leaned back on his elbows again to catch his breath, eyes closing just so he didn’t have to watch the world spin for the moment. Oddball’s yell made him smile faintly. Sunny would be alright, then. That was a relief. While the troopers finished helping Sunny and retrieved the jack, Obi-Wan turned back to Cody.

“How many casualties so far?” he asked. “And what are we looking at for survivors?”

Sunny was righting himself, grasping onto the ground with both hands and protected fingers digging into the dirt. Oddball seemed to notice his stance and yanked the bucket from his head, freeing him just in time for him to empty a dry stomach into the earth underneath him. His brothers sympathized with his plight, but other than nausea and the ringing in his ears, there didn’t seem to be much else wrong with him physically.

“We lost Dezz,” Cody replied solemnly, his voice hollow from underneath his helmet. He stepped away when the troopers came rushing over with the jack, propping it up in the dirt so they could lift the metal plating holding Obi-Wan’s legs hostage. “Three are missing, but we’re looking for them. The rest have various injuries. I’m not sure how life threatening until Sunny gets a look at them.”

When the jack lifted the metal high enough, Cody himself reached for the Jedi’s arms, hoisting him up onto his feet and keeping hold on his biceps so that he wouldn’t fall. 

“You dropped your saber, Sir. I’ve retrieved it for you.” Currently, it was hanging at a familiar hook on his belt, where he often stored it when it left Obi-Wan’s possession. 

Obi-Wan held tight to Cody’s arm in return, feet very firmly and deliberately braced beneath him to try and counter the way the world was twisting around him like an out of control starfighter in a tailspin. It was…  _ Massively  _ nauseating. But if he threw up now, Cody would never let him hear the end of it - or allow him to escape medical attention. He swallowed back the bile in an epic act of sheer will, grateful that the commander’s armor meant that Cody couldn’t clearly tell just how tight his grip on the man really was.

Ooooh, he really  _ hated  _ concussions. Which, he supposed, was fair, considering how virulently his entire body now hated  _ him.  _

“… Much obliged, Commander,” Obi-Wan answered after several long moments, when he was sure opening his mouth wouldn’t immediately end in his getting sick. His voice sounded a bit rough around the edges still, unfortunately, but that could be explained away, if need be. He carefully let go of Cody’s arm, turning his hand to accept his lightsaber back. “Dezz was close to Rust and Hopper down in engineering, wasn’t he? I’ll do the notification myself when we make it back to the  _ Negotiator _ .”

It seemed like the least he could do for Dezz. Obi-Wan knew better than to think everyone would survive, but that didn’t make any of the losses any less regrettable. Poor Rust; this was going to break his heart, coming so soon after they’d lost Jetjump.

Cody worried, but he did so strategically; a patient and practiced skill that he had learned was much more effective than wearing his opinions on his sleeve. Too much, and he would put strain on the troops and spread anxiety, lowering morale. Too little, and he would seem uncaring and detached, which in regard to his synergy with the General, Cody was anything but. For now, he spent his time observing Obi-Wan’s subtle movements, helmet tracking him wherever he moved. 

“Yes, Sir. He was also separated with Archer, who went on into the ARC Program after Geonosis. He should be on assignment with the 501st at the moment. I’m not sure when we might be able to notify him of that loss.” It was painful how common these conversations went on between them, although Obi-Wan impressed him with how many names and faces (albeit very similar) he remembered, even outside of his personal Company. 

“Commander, General,” the clone approaching was Boil, “We found Havoc and Marsh, but we can’t reach them. Havoc doesn’t look so good, Sir. We don’t know if we have the equipment to pull them both up. They fell into an underground cavern of some sort. Without the sun, it’s hard to see how deep it goes.”

Cody took a step forward, his jaw tight, though his expression was hidden not only by the darkness but his helmet. 

“Have Sunny see to the wounded we  _ are  _ able to tend to now. What’s his status?” They both looked in the younger clone’s direction, but he was already on his feet, accepting a hard plastoid backpack marked with the medical seal of the Republic. 

How could he have forgotten about Archer, Obi-Wan wondered.

“I’ll com Anakin; over holo might not be as good as in person, but I don’t want Archer to find out from the casualty lists,” Obi-Wan told Cody, then turned to Boil. Time to stop whining about being sore and deal with the situation. He reached for the Force, drawing on it to steady himself and the world and giving it his pain in return. “I can get Havoc and Marsh. Help Sunny however he needs - including doing all of his yelling, if need be. We need as many people mobile as possible, as fast as possible. The Seps will be heading this way to check for survivors, and we’re not going to be here when they do. Cody, I’ll leave recovering supplies to you, and have someone figure out a way to transport anyone who can’t walk.”

He found Waxer behind Boil and left them to it. They’d get things taken care of, he was sure, and he had a couple of troopers to pull from a cavern. Hm… Actually. 

“Oddball, find me something big enough for Havoc to lay on,” he called, then nodded to Waxer. “Lead the way.”

“Yes, Sir.” Waxer tipped his head towards Oddball even as they started for the cavern. “You thinking a stretcher? The area they’re caught on is pretty rough.”

“I can hold it steady while Marsh gets Havoc loaded. It’ll be the safest way to bring him up if he’s badly injured - and if whatever Oddball finds is big enough, I can get Marsh up at the same time.”

Waxer nodded. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Once Obi-Wan began taking control (although Cody was not entirely convinced he was without injury and he would be keeping a close eye on his movements), the 212th Commander straightened his posture and nodded. “Understood. I’ll mobilize the men that aren’t injured, we’ll get a tally, and we’ll figure out our next movement. Sergeant Boil, see that Sunny has everything he needs. I’ll work with a team to recover the equipment from the wreckage. Let’s hope we can salvage some of it.”

A chorus of acknowledgements surrounded Cody as he returned to the hull of their broken LAAT/i, leaving Obi-Wan to work with the few clones that remained to assist the General in retrieving their fallen brothers. 

“Give me a moment, Sir. I’m sure I’ll find something.” Oddball sidestepped around Boil, who was ushering Sunny toward the few clones laying not far from where they stood and were nursing their injuries in the darkness.

Think, Oddball, think. Not  _ metal _ \- that would strain the General on top of the two bodies he meant to carry up using only his  _ mind  _ and the will of the Force. If not that, then what? Rushing around the broken clearing, he shuffled through debris until a sturdy plastoid tube caught his eye. He pried it out from underneath steel and forest, popping the canister at the end until it began expanding onto the ground.

“We’re in luck. I found one of the stretchers from the ship, but- it won’t fit both of them at once.” Oddball cautiously stepped around the sunken hole in the ground, careful not to lose his footing, and placed it down in front of them. “If we had rope, I might be able to climb down there and grab Marsh. Maybe they’ll find some.”

“If they find rope, I’d be willing to let you try,” Obi-Wan answered. “But just in case they don’t…”

He leaned over the cavern opening.

“Do you mind coming up after Havoc, Marsh?” 

“Not a bit, Sir,” Marsh called back. “It’d actually be kinda nice just to sit a minute.”

Obi-Wan laughed - stars, but he could sympathize - and lifted the stretcher with a gesture. “Alright, stretcher inbound.”

“Nice find,” Waxer approved to Oddball with a nod while the General focused on getting the stretcher down to the trapped troopers. “Sunny’s probably going to be pretty happy, I bet - that’s at least one immobile  _ vod _ we can move easy.”

He adjusted the grip on his rifle slightly while he scanned the horizon. No sign of any Seps yet. Absently, Waxer added, “Sorta wish Cad were here, too, though. He does all of his  _ and  _ Sunny’s yelling.”

Which would give them back Boil, and Waxer could go scout a perimeter without leaving the General and Oddball shorthanded.

“A lucky find,” Oddball said to Waxer, watching the General concentrate with some rigidness in his spine. Somewhere behind them, Sunny had removed a sun bonnet from an injured trooper, struggling to ascertain his condition with the small amount of light provided to them on this planet in its night cycle.

Below them in the cavern, Marsh made slow work of easing Havoc onto the stretcher. It was delicate work, unfortunately, and their brother’s pained cries sounded hollow as they reverberated off the cavern walls. 

“Easy, vod,” Marsh tried to comfort him, “The General’s got you.”

They would not be alone for long. Another ship plummeted from the atmosphere not far from where their gunship crashed, so near that it rumbled the earth underneath them. From Sunny’s side, Boil cursed loudly in their common tongue and stood up, hoisting his weapon up out of instinct.

“That ain’t one of ours,” Boil warned the men around him, jerking his head a bit. “Clankers don’t take prisoners and they don’t leave survivors.” 

_ Kriff.  _ Obi-Wan’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t look away from his work. He wasn’t exactly fighting fit - and even if he had been, this wasn’t a task he could leave partway through. Havoc needed medical attention as quickly as possible, and more than that, any fighting could result in falling stone. And there wasn’t a lot of room to dodge down there.

Fortunately, Obi-Wan had Cody. Well… Fortunately for  _ him _ . For the Seps, not so much: Cody was an  _ excellent _ Commander, and the 212th was among the best battalions in the entire GAR. Their situation wasn’t ideal by any stretch, but Obi-Wan trusted his men to figure it out and protect one another while he was occupied.

“Waxer, go get Cody,” he ordered, and Waxer immediately tossed off a salute, stepped back, and started running. “Oddball, take Boil’s place helping Sunny; I’ll yell when I have Havoc up. Boil, corral anyone Sunny’s cleared as mobile and get them to the Commander; he’s going to need everyone we’ve got. Make sure he knows I’ll hit the field as soon as I can.”

Obi-Wan received similar utterances of ‘ _ yes, sir _ ’ from both clones as they were instructed, though Oddball hesitated at his side, perhaps because he noticed the General’s stance was irregular. He replaced Boil just as quickly as the Sergeant could make for the wreckage on the hill above them, where Cody and several other troopers were digging through debris in search of functional equipment.

There was not much else Sunny could do for the men he had treated already. Most that were injured could walk and hold their own, and only two others besides Havoc appeared to be in critical condition. When Oddball approached him, he was desperately trying to tug on the clasps of a trooper’s chassis, hoping to relieve the pressure of his fractured armor.

“Sir?” Marsh’s bonnet snapped up, spotting a bobbing red light from somewhere nearby, just on the other side of the cavern opening opposite of Obi-Wan. His anxious feet disturbed the ledge he and Havoc had been found on, causing him to pin his back to the cavern wall before he slipped further down. In the distance, it sounded like Cody had called to engage the Separatists, the blaster fire loud and  _ piercing  _ at this range.

“Stay  _ put _ , Marsh,” Obi-Wan warned, and immediately ducked as the Force screamed  _ danger!  _ A blaster bolt skimmed past him, close enough for him to feel the heat of it, while below, poor Havoc moaned in pain as the stretcher jerked in reaction. Sith  **hells** , but Obi-Wan really did hate concussions - this would all be so much easier without one. He grit his teeth, drawing more heavily on the Force as he prepared to split his focus. He called a warning down to Marsh. “Steady the stretcher as much as you can without risking a fall; this might get a bit bumpy.”

When the probe droid fired again, Obi-Wan was ready, catching the blaster bolt on the edge of his ‘saber. He didn’t have the focus he needed to bounce the shot back - maybe if it had  _ only  _ been a concussion he was battling, or  _ only  _ the stretcher he was keeping aloft, he might have managed to a least nick the thing, but both at once was just impossible. A simple defense, though. A simple, no-frills defense, he could do.

He blocked another bolt, then another, all the while pushing himself just a little bit farther, stretching his senses to their fullest to find someone close - There. Obi-Wan took a deep breath, his torso burning furiously even despite the way he’d bolstered himself with the Force, but the sacrifice was worth it for the volume it bought him.

“Longshot! A little cover, please!”

There was a long pause. Obi-Wan only just managed to bat away another series of shots, and the last was knocked off course only enough to avoid catching him full in the chest: it burned a line across his bicep, instead. 

And then the probe droid exploded, courtesy of Ghost Company’s best sniper.

Obi-Wan sighed his relief and turned back to the cavern, clipping his ‘saber back to his belt. “Let’s do this fast. My apologies, Havoc; this is likely to be rather uncomfortable.”

From down below, Marsh felt useless. Skirting the edge of the cavern was torture knowing he couldn’t stand to help the General when he needed it, but disobeying meant he would only become a burden. All he could do was wait for Havoc to be lifted so he could join his brothers on solid ground. 

“You’re almost up, Havoc,” Marsh called up to him, “Hold on a little longer.”

By the time Obi-Wan pulled Havoc clear of the cavern opening, Oddball had rushed Sunny over, holding a rifle at attention in case they ran into any unexpected surprises from the underbrush. 

“Couldn’t find a rope in the chaos, Sir,” the pilot reported mournfully, setting his weapon aside so that he could help Sunny ease Havoc off the stretcher and onto the ground. He was likely their most critical at this stage.

“ _ Vaabir not nuhoy, vod _ ,” Sunny told Havoc softly, petting his cheeks with gloved palms to rouse him once the medic removed his sun bonnet. The injured clone looked gravely pale, and this close even without a trauma scan, it was easy to tell he’d lost a lot of blood. Being so limited on medical supplies, there was only so much Sunny was going to be able to do.

Their position was suddenly quiet. Oddball picked up his rifle once more and held it out cautiously, attention drawn to the broken hull of their gunship. He was relieved to see their brothers emerge moments later, no much worse for wear than they had been minutes ago. The majority of them joined their fallen brothers near the cavern opening, although Cody, Waxer, and Boil were not in attendance. Lieutenant Stark ushered the men aside to stand next to Obi-Wan.

“Sir, we found rope. Let one of us get Marsh out of there.” Though he was unsure if Obi-Wan would agree, he motioned for two troopers to round the edges of the cavern anyway, ready to descend if they were given the all clear. 

Obi-Wan hesitated a moment, then nodded. The world whirled in response, and Obi-Wan fought not to sway with it. He… Needed a moment. To recover.

“Just be careful,” he requested of the lieutenant. “We don’t need to give Sunny any more work than he already has, hm?” 

“We will, Sir. Not to worry.” Stark’s confidence, the clone hoped, would put the General’s mind at ease. Marsh was at least strong enough to hold onto one of his brothers while they attempted to rescue him, and in the Lieutenant’s mind, the worst was over now that Havoc was clear from the cavern.

Obi-Wan smiled wryly, then moved carefully out of the way, heading for the medic. Someone braced a hand against his back for a moment, like they were steadying him, and Obi-Wan stifled a sigh. He didn’t know what he’d done to make the trooper think he needed that assistance, but Cody was definitely eventually going to. He’d have to try and get himself a bit better sorted before that happened.

The Jedi crouched beside Sunny and Havoc, one hand on a nearby rock for balance and the other touching Havoc’s shoulder gently. His own pain spiked back into stark reality as he left off pushing into the Force in favor of soothing the injured trooper. He didn’t want to try splitting his focus again so soon when it was avoidable. “How is he doing, Sunny?”

Beneath their ministrations and Obi-Wan’s attempts at comfort, Havoc groaned painfully in response, his consciousness waning with every passing second. It didn’t seem that he could comprehend anything they were discussing.

“I can stop the bleeding,” Sunny reported quietly, enough so that Oddball wouldn’t hear but the General could understand, “But he needs a bacta tank and surgery, Sir. I can only make him comfortable.” Maybe if Cad were there, he could have figured something out; something impossible like he always did- at least enough to keep him alive until help arrived. 

Slowly, mindfully, the medic began removing pieces of Havoc’s plastoid armor, starting first with the simpler areas around his arms and legs. He needed to see the extent of the damage with his own eyes so he could apply bacta to stop the bleeding.

Nearby, the troopers cheered: a clear indication that they had successfully rescued Marsh from down below. Sunny didn’t look up, but Oddball smiled under his sun bonnet in their direction as he observed his brothers exchange subtle affections knowing he was safe and sound. At least for now.

Obi-Wan’s lips pressed thin at the prognosis, but he nodded.

“Keep him comfortable, then. And we’ll do everything we can to get him what he needs.” He smiled kindly down at the injured trooper, layering the Force into his next words to send the man into a deep, peaceful sleep. “Rest, Havoc. We’ll take care of you.”

He’d suffer less pain, this way. Obi-Wan looked back up at Sunny, already draining his own pain back off in preparation to move. 

“Send word if you need me to wake him; I’m going to find the Commander.”

It was a concern that Cody, Waxer, and Boil hadn’t returned yet, and if they needed help, Obi-Wan wanted to make sure they got it. He stood, clenching his jaw against his injuries and the way the world wobbled. Sunny nodded and uttered a quiet acknowledgement, tracking Obi-Wan for a short time as the General headed off, disguising a slight stumble as he went by pretending to try brushing a bit of dirt off his tunics. Havoc’s shortened breaths quickly reminded him that he had a job to do, however, and he turned back to his work.

Stars. He really needed some time and space to meditate properly and put himself back to rights, Obi-Wan mused as he walked away. That just didn’t seem very likely to happen any time soon.

Oddball straightened once he realized the Jedi was leaving, looking between his post and the neutral beige of Obi-Wan’s robes in the darkness before finally deciding to swiftly follow after him.

“I’ll accompany you, Sir,” the pilot insisted, charging ahead a few feet as if he alone stood between the planet’s unknown dangers and his General. “Stark will take good care of Sunny and our fallen brothers.”

Obi-Wan cast Oddball an amused, if slightly exasperated glance. The worry and protectiveness radiating out of the pilot was endearing, but completely unnecessary. Still, if Oddball wanted to join him, Obi-Wan wasn’t going to argue with him. It wasn’t worth it, and the extra set of eyes would probably be helpful, anyway. Especially since Obi-Wan’s own vision wasn’t  _ quite _ as reliable at the moment as he might prefer.

A moment’s concentration gave him Cody’s general heading, and he motioned for Oddball to follow as he set off that way. “Try to remember what you can of the terrain around here while we’re walking, then. We’re going to need somewhere defensible to hole up while we figure out how to actually get  _ off _ this blasted planet, and aimless wandering won’t do for that.”

Or for their wounded. All the time Oddball had spent in a cockpit, flying over the area… Obi-Wan wasn’t expecting a miracle or anything, but it was entirely possible for Oddball to have noticed something useful.

“Understood, Sir. Seems like a  _ lot  _ of trees and mud so far.” With the cover of darkness, Oddball’s filthy armor was difficult to make out, but the pilot knew already that he had grimy stains up to his calves- and that was  _ outside  _ of the areas where he’d fallen. If they ever got out of this mess, he knew that he and all his brothers would enjoy their time in the refresher.

Through a heavy thicket of alien foliage several yards out, Cody and his two Sergeants occupied an outcropping of dark stone, their bellies pressed against the rocks to disguise themselves from any potential enemy peripheral scans. Far off in the distance, Cody made out what looked to be a Separatist outpost hidden in the canyon walls, heavily guarded.

“Commander,” Boil spoke quietly, leaning close, “The Seppies are going to send reinforcements once they realize their scouting party was turned into scrap metal. We can’t stay here.”

Something was buzzing. Cody thrust a hand out and gestured for them to flatten themselves against the rocks moments before a pair of recon units spiraled overhead, gravitating toward the crash site. 

“Let’s regroup with the others,” Cody said with some urgency, hoisting up onto his feet. “I don’t want those probe droids to report our position. Let’s go.  _ Now _ .”

When Obi-Wan and Oddball finally found the missing commander, Cody was emerging from a dense copse of tree-like vegetation with Waxer and Boil close on his heels. 

Oddball lowered his weapon instinctively, and Obi-Wan was grateful: he didn’t want to go hiking in his condition. Especially not with the march ahead of them. He nodded to Cody expectantly. He recognized the set of the commander’s shoulders.

“Commander. You have something?”

“General,” Cody reported quickly, his attention drawn to the sky, “We were following–.”

“There they are, Commander!” Boil motioned east, where the droids were breaching the treeline toward the crash zone. If they continued on that heading, they would pop up right next to Sunny attending to their wounded.

“Blast them!” Cody evened his footing and raised his rifle, firing on the nearest floating droid. He nicked it and it lost its ability to hover, breaking through the canopy onto the ground below. The second was too far out of reach, but Waxer and Boil chased after it with Oddball on their heels.

Confident they would catch the recon unit before it made off with its intel, Cody shouldered his rifle and positioned himself to look over Obi-Wan. “We are sitting ducks out here, SIr. We scouted ahead and there appears to be a cave system along the western mountains, but the Separatists have an outpost built into the rocks closer to the city. I was thinking… That pit we pulled Havoc and Marsh out of- could there be an underground network? There are drops all around the area just like it, leading into the earth.”

“Maybe,” Obi-Wan agreed, “but I don’t think it wise to test the theory immediately - we don’t know how far down it goes, and it would take too long to get all of our injured safely lowered regardless. We could scout it when we’re a bit more secure; it could be of use in securing new transport if you’re right.”

Caves, however, would be exceedingly useful in the short term. Obi-Wan considered their options as he accompanied Cody back towards the crash site, pace quick in deference to the situation’s urgency. If they could get everyone into the trees for cover…

Hm.

“Regardless,” Cody raised a hand shortly for emphasis, “We have no contact with the air teams or the fleet battling above the planet. The Separatists are jamming our signals, as they usually do. Evac and reinforcements are unlikely unless we either find a way to communicate with them or utilize enemy equipment to get off the southern hemisphere.”

That was true. They’d have to address that soon, too.

“We need to speak to Sunny,” Obi-Wan mused. “Get a proper injury report so we can decide who goes where, but… I want forward and rear guard teams, at least, to protect the worst injured as we move.”

Waxer and Boil, when they returned, were likely going to be a part of his forward guard - as experienced scouts, they’d be able to find the company a safe path to follow. Obi-Wan glanced over at Cody, wanting the other man’s opinion.

“Fall back into the denser trees to the south and circle around to the western caves?” No, wait. He grimaced and shook his head. “Scratch that. We’d definitely lose Havoc; he needs medical care, not a long hike through the night. What else do we have?”

Despite how divided Cody's attention had been since they landed, he didn't miss it when Obi-Wan wobbled, even if Obi-Wan seemed to. He placed a hand on the small of the General's back, stopping them before they returned to the broken clearing their men were holed up in waiting for their orders.

“Stay close to me, General.” That was about as much as he could handle at the moment, given that Sunny’s attention was necessary for their more critically injured. The best the Commander could do for now was keep an eye on the man himself. “There’s an alcove nearby, just along the riverbed bearing north. If we leave Sunny and our wounded with a few others to watch them through the night, we can take a strike team into the mountains to flank the Separatist outpost.”

Oh, dear. Cody’s hand on his back was unfairly reassuring. It made the world right itself and stay put, but it was also a bad sign: it meant the commander had noticed something. Obi-Wan was definitely on the clock to patch himself up before he ended up trapped in medical now. He tipped his head in understanding, then got them walking again.

“I’d prefer to leave them somewhere a bit more secure than an alcove, Commander,” he answered, frowning. “Sending a strike team into the outpost is a good idea, but so far, the only information we have on the outpost is that it exists and it’s hostile.”

Hardly groundbreaking news. They needed more intel, but getting it was going to be a bit trickier than usual, with the company on the move and their comms jammed. Obi-Wan frowned to himself as a plan began to form in his mind. Oh, Cody wasn’t going to like this.

At this point, Cody wasn’t certain there were many places secure enough to hide their wounded without killing them in order to traverse there first.

“We have little options to choose from, I’m afraid,” he stated gravely, though he was well aware Obi-Wan knew the odds, the stakes, and their current position. The fleet would be looking for them, no doubt, but so was their enemy. 

Obi-Wan braced himself for the coming argument and suggested, “I’ll take a couple scouts and do some recon on the base. We’ll be able to find you, wherever you all find to hide, and we’ll have a moment to plan in relative safety before making our attack.”

They approached the crash site slowly side by side, and Cody nodded when Lieutenant Stark greeted them by standing to attention. It seemed that he had put the rest of the men in battle positions protecting the inner circle where Sunny was doing what he could for Havoc and the two others that were injured in the landing. He cast a long, thoughtful stare at their troopers in a slow, steady motion- almost as if he could see their faces hidden beneath their bonnets. And Cody  _ could _ , technically… in his mind’s eye. He could see each of them in perfect detail. By the time he glanced back at Obi-Wan, there was obvious conviction emanating from him.

“I  _ strongly  _ disagree with that, General Kenobi. My scouts and I are perfectly capable of completing a task like that ourselves. If there’s a chance that we can open communications with the fleet, I would much rather you were ready for the shuttles and gunships for evac at a distance.” There was a weighted statement hidden behind those words, one he never admitted out loud, though it didn’t disguise the Republic’s truth: the clones were far less valuable than a Jedi General, and a Jedi Master at that.

It was his understanding that Obi-Wan could easily pull rank and silence him, but Cody wasn’t entirely finished. “Not to mention that, out of the two of us, I’m much more battle ready at the moment. I can take Waxer, Boil, Longshot for range, Oddball if we find a craft, and one or two others to cover us.“

“I don’t know what you’re referring to,” Obi-Wan lied blithely. “I’m doing fine, and I’m perfectly capable of fighting if it comes to it.” That last part wasn’t a lie. It wouldn’t be pleasant, by any means, but he could and would take up his lightsaber to protect himself and his men, even in his current condition. “And I really  _ would  _ prefer to have some idea of what the strike team would be walking into before sending it in, Cody, regardless of who’s on it.”

He sighed softly and glanced over to where Sunny was still working on his wounded brothers. Was it still Havoc? Obi-Wan couldn’t tell. The trooper was still alive, at least, when Obi-Wan reached his mind out to check - Havoc’s Force signature was weak, thready, but definitely still there.

No. Obi-Wan wouldn’t just stay put and wait for rescue when his troops needed him.

“It’s a risky enough prospect as it is, going in there,” he murmured. He turned to Cody again. “I realize we’ve wounded who are on something of a clock, but I won’t lose more of you all to something that ten minutes of observation could have helped us avoid. And you’re better at setting up defensible positions than I am - if that alcove is our best shot for cover, then  _ you’re  _ our best shot at making it even a semblance of safe.”

Obi-Wan spread a hand out. The motion was both very nearly a shrug and a gesture of offering to accompany his next words.

“I’ll take two scouts, we’ll keep our distance, reconnaissance only. I won’t try and storm the place without first consulting you.”

Cody knew better than to interrupt, even if he personally didn’t agree with the decision. All he could do was offer his opinion on the matter, his experience dictated by  _ clone  _ logic - not Jedi logic - and otherwise await Obi-Wan’s final decision.  _ Good soldiers follow orders _ , the voice echoed in his head; something so soft and rudimentary that he willed it away without a second thought. Something that discernible was without question.

“Yes, sir. My recommendation, of course, would be Waxer and Boil.” With their duties marked, Cody turned to motion the two over. Boil seemed to have been inspecting the scraped recon unit they destroyed close to the wreckage, jabbing at its open circuits with his rifle until he realized they were being summoned. The two exchanged a brief look and bounded over, snapping to attention.

“You both are to accompany General Kenobi to the Separatist outpost in the mountains.  _ Reconnaissance only, _ ” Cody stated pointedly, hoping that the two troopers did not notice that mission condition wasn’t directed at them. “The rest of us will set up camp in the alcove along the river. The waterbed  _ should  _ confuse any enemy scanners in the area. Once you gather your intelligence, you are to report back to us with anything you find. We’ll form our strategy from there.”

“Yes, Sir,” Boil nodded, awaiting Obi-Wan’s confirmation. 

Cody swallowed a sigh, dismissing them both with a derisory wave of his hand. It didn’t seem to help his guise of tense formality when he realized that Sunny was singing his injured brothers a soft but haunting melody to comfort them as they slept. “Please stay safe, General.”

Obi-Wan smiled despite himself. 

“We’ll be alright, Cody,” he assured his commander. “I won’t go looking for trouble; you have my word.” He needed at  _ least _ a couple of hours in a healing trance before he did that. “We’ll be back soon.”

Waxer hesitated before following after the General as the Jedi walked away, though he did watch. Obi-Wan was moving well, for the most part - aside from how he occasionally listed to one side or the other and the subtle lack of his usual grace, that was. Waxer looked back to Cody.

“We’ll look after him, sir,” he promised. “And if he tries to do anything too crazy, we’ll knock him out and carry him back to camp before he can actually attempt it. We can tell him it was a probe droid getting a lucky shot.”

As comical as that description sounded, Cody was grateful for the support whether or not General Kenobi wanted it in this form. Beside Waxer, Boil chuckled, affirming his brother’s claim with a rough but approving grunt. “Be mindful that you don’t alert him to your  _ plot _ , Sergeant. He can hear you even from this distance.”

That put a pep in their step. Boil nudged Waxer and hurried ahead, mimicking Oddball’s earlier determination by staying a few paces ahead of Obi-Wan on their set path through the forest. They would need to head north if they wanted to get a better position on the Separatist outpost.


End file.
